Jeremy Bentham & The Panopticon
Hey that was purdy cool that Jeremy Bentham's name came up right after retroactiveman was saying that the utilitarians were coming (and predicted along with Prof that Locke would die)!
What I know Bentham for is his invention of the Panopticon. And I think that's probably one of the main things the writers are alluding to--especially in the dialogue between Hurley and Sayid about being watched and paranoia. The panopticon was a design for a prison. The theory of the design was that all cells would be facing a central guard tower. The guard tower would be designed such that the guards could see out through narrow openings but the prisoners could not see the guards. So the prisoners would not be able to tell when they were or were not being watched. They would supposedly, then, reform their behavior--acting as if they were always watched. This was seen as a way of internalizing the guards--becoming their own police.
Think that idea's been a pretty big theme on lost--the idea of observation--changing behvior through this kind of modification--of even becoming someone else by internalizing the person watching you.
Foucault...
discipline me
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/foucault/
"On Foucault's account, the relation of power and knowledge is far closer than in the familiar Baconian engineering model, for which "knowledge is power" means that knowledge is an instrument of power, although the two exist quite independently. Foucault's point is rather than, at least for the study of human beings, the goals of power and the goals of knowledge cannot be separated: in knowing we control and in controlling we know.
The examination also situates individuals in a "field of documentation". The results of exams are recorded in documents that provide detailed information about the individuals examined and allow power systems to control them (e.g., absentee records for schools, patients' charts in hospitals). On the basis of these records, those in control can formulate categories, averages, and norms that are in turn a basis for knowledge. The examination turns the individual into a "case"--in both senses of the term: a scientific example and an object of care; caring is always also an opportunity for control.
Bentham's Panopticon is, for Foucault, an ideal architectural model of modern disciplinary power. It is a design for a prison, built so that each inmate is separated from and invisible to all the others (in separate "cells") and each inmate is always visible to a monitor situated in a central tower. Monitors will not in fact always see each inmate; the point is that they could at any time. Since inmates never know whether they are being observed, they must act as if they are always objects of observation. As a result, control is achieved more by the internal monitoring of those controlled than by heavy physical constraints.
The principle of the Panopticon can be applied not only to prisons but to any system of disciplinary power (a factory, a hospital, a school). And, in fact, although Bentham himself was never able to build it, its principle has come to pervade every aspect of modern society. It is the instrument through which modern discipline has replaced pre-modern sovereignty (kings, judges) as the fundamental power relation."
discipline me ;-)
Yeah--the power-knowledge conduit I always found to be one of Foucault's really interesting shifts in how to think about this kind of thing. I find the whole assessment/accountability testing system that's overrun education at the moment to be an example of how strong that model still is. I am just starting to read a book that talks about a shift out of the repression/liberation model of discipline to a control/freedom model and is looking at the internet as the new paradigm as opposed to the Panopticon. The website for the book lets you read the first page of each chapter: Control and Freedom.
And the power-knowledge connection I've noticed very strongly on Lost. I've written a couple of episode analyses that focussed on that.
One of the most central for that connection was "Live Together/Die Alone" and before that "S.O.S."
But he's better known....
for his work after his death!! Check out this little bit of "Jacob-esque" trivia from Wikipedia.
"As requested in his will, his body was preserved and stored in a wooden cabinet, termed his "Auto-icon". Originally kept by his disciple Dr. Southwood Smith,[11] it was acquired by University College London in 1850. The Auto-icon is kept on public display at the end of the South Cloisters in the main building of the College. For the 100th and 150th anniversaries of the college, the Auto-icon was brought to the meeting of the College Council, where he was listed as "present but not voting".[12] Tradition holds that if the council's vote on any motion is tied, the auto-icon always breaks the tie by voting in favour of the motion.
The Auto-icon has always had a wax head, as Bentham's head was badly damaged in the preservation process. The real head was displayed in the same case for many years, but became the target of repeated student pranks including being stolen on more than one occasion. It is now locked away securely."
Here's a link to a picture of him being displayed.
Jukin...you
John = Jacob
I just don't see how that could possibly work, even with "limited time travel". But, maybe there's a difference? John BECOMING Jacob or John IS Jacob (meaning he HAS been Jacob)...
John's "destiny" is definitely connected to the cabin. I was saying as much, although hesitantly, with the John-confinement idea in the 4.11 post (can't link it for some reason) but I'm still skeptical. I think I've always thought the idea that Jacob is more connected to Christian and his family (cue the biblical references) would be more elegant. But still, John's connection is interesting and I wouldn't mind seeing that if the writers can pull it off. I was overall impressed with the finale so I have hope. 
power
Bentham figures prominently in post structuralisms critique and analysis of power. So everybody, go grab your Foucault and get to work.